


Like A Birthday

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Look man I love those games I'm not gonna apologize, Lotta Yakuza fandom stuff here, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 22:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14412138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: It's Makoto's 20th birthday, and her friends have planned a very special surprise for her.





	Like A Birthday

So far, it’d been a very pleasant 20th birthday.

Most of Makoto’s friends were too busy with school to actually spend time with her. Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Hifumi had all recently started college, and the adjustment was rockier for some of them than others. Ren was too busy to spend the whole day with Makoto like they wanted, but he was able to make time for a nice breakfast with her and Sae. Ann had a modeling gig she couldn’t get out of and Yusuke had sequestered himself away to work on his newest painting, but they at least managed to call. Ryuji was pretty sure he was going to flunk a big essay he had due, so Hifumi was busy helping him write it, although Makoto had to wonder if she may be a distraction for him more than anything. Haru had some kind of meeting with the board of Okumura Foods after her classes and was very apologetic, her own phone call full of offers of increasingly-lavish presents to make it up to Makoto, ranging from jewelry to a Paris vacation to a new motorcycle, the last of which Makoto felt tempted to accept.

In the end, Makoto found herself spending most of the day with Futaba and Morgana. Which certainly wasn’t unpleasant, although the two were so energetic that it was a bit much to put up with their combined personalities without the rest of the group diluting them. Still, they were doing their best to make the day special for Makoto, finding a theater screening the director’s cut of _Like A Dragon 5,_ which wound up being a very exciting four hours for Makoto. As was the after-movie discussion held over lunch in the diner, in which they discussed the plot in far more detail than Morgana was equipped to keep up with.

“Yeah,” Futaba said, “I think the baseball player was kinda unnecessary to the whole story. Like, you could cut out his entire subplot and it really wouldn’t change the movie at all.”

“I’m not so sure about that” Makoto said. “Shinada’s knowledge of stadiums let them foil the assassination of Haruka, after all!”

“That seems more like a contrivance to justify including him at all.”

“But his subplot also answers the question of what happened to Daigo!”

“Eh.” Futaba shrugged. “I think the writers were just too lazy to come up with anything better for that mystery. And the final battle was so underwhelming. It’s like, what did that have to do with anything!?”

“What are you talking about!?” Makoto started to raise her voice, not noticing the stares of the other restaurant patrons. “The final battle was amazing! I thought wrecking the boardroom of the Tojo Clan’s Headquarters and finishing the fight outside in the snow was an amazing illustration of Kiryu severing his ties with the yakuza world for good!”

“Is that what that was?” Futaba scratched her head. “I was distracted by how lame making Aizawa the final boss was. If you ask me, they should’ve ended the series after the third one. The story just got more confusing as they added all those other protagonists afterwards.”

“I like those other protagonists.” Makoto crossed her arms. “I think Akiyama and Saejima bring interesting new perspectives to the series as a whole.”

“Yeah, I liked that Akiyama guy too!” Morgana finally participated, poking his head out of the heavy overcoat Futaba had worn to sneak him into the movies. “He’s really smooth! When I’m finally human, I hope I can be rich and stylish like that guy!”

“By the way, Futaba…” Makoto was finally broken out of her fangirl stupor by the way Morgana’s head was sticking out of the coat. “Aren’t you uncomfortable wearing that big heavy coat? It’s not exactly cold today.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel kinda overclocked.” Futaba wiped some sweat from her brow. “But I had to sneak Mona into the movie somehow.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to sneak him in with a bag?”

“Nuh-uh!” Futaba shook her head vigorously. “I don’t want a bunch of loose cat hair getting inside my bag where it can get mixed up with electronics later!”

“I don’t have loose hairs!” Morgana protested. “I’ll have you know I groom myself immaculately!”

“So all those little black hairs in Ren’s bed are from his own head?” Futaba looked down at the cat against her chest and smirked.

“To be fair, his hair IS very uncooperative.” Makoto chuckled. “I’ve tried taming it a few times, but it is a far tougher opponent than any Shadows we ever faced were.”

“Yeah, I bet you gotta use a whole bottle of hair gel or something.” Futaba picked up her water glass, but saw there were only a couple drops left. She let them fall onto her tongue and let out a whimper.

“You can take your coat off now, you know” Makoto said.

“No I can’t!” Futaba leaned in and started whispering. “This place has a no pets allowed policy! I can’t expose Mona!”

“Then maybe we should leave.” Makoto watched Futaba’s increasing sweat levels with concern. “Then you can take off that coat.”

“And just CARRY a big coat around?” Futaba’s face started turning red. “Have you ever tried that!? It’s so big and cumbersome and awkward! You can never decide if you wanna hold it all folded up in your arms or slung over your shoulder or tied around your waist, it’s such a pain!”

“Well then I’ll just carry it for you, how about that?”

“I can’t make you carry around this big honkin’ coat on your birthday! This day’s supposed to be about you!”

“Futaba, please! If you don’t take that coat off, you’re going to get heatstroke!”

“I can’t just take it off! I need a really big bag to carry it in!” Futaba stood from the table swiftly and dramatically. “Let’s go shopping!”

“What!?”

“Yeah, let’s go to Harajuku!”

* * *

Futaba somehow managed to not pass out on the train to the fashion district, and dragged Makoto into the first store that caught her eye, a chain Makoto recognized for selling punkish merchandise.

At least, that’s how Makoto remembered it being in her youth. These day, the Raw Topic stores seemed to be less about counterculture and more about pop culture, carrying a bunch of collectible figures and shirts with cartoon and video game characters on them in addition to the various studded black leather pieces Makoto recalled them carrying. With all that in mind, it made sense that Futaba would want to come to this place, and Makoto and Morgana waited outside of the dressing room for Futaba to show off the outfit she picked.

“Ta-dah!”

Futaba emerged in a long-sleeved Gun About tee shirt and some sweatpants with a print of 8-bit alien ships all over the legs. She threw the heavy coat she’d been wearing all day onto the floor, a big grin on her face as she seemed to have replenished a lot of her energy.

“Oh yeah, this is so much more comfortable!” Futaba shook her limbs around a little. “I don’t know how other people deal with such heavy layers all the time! I’d hate to be a businessman stuck in a suit all day.”

“Then why aren’t you wearing short sleeves?” Makoto asked. “Wouldn’t those be cooler?”

“Nah, this stuff’s fine!” Futaba ran her left hand over her right arm, and it was only now that Makoto noticed the shirt’s material was bulky and uneven, all clumped up in weird ways. “This fabric’s really light! I think I’m gonna wear this out and just ask for a bag to carry the jacket.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto stared at the sleeves. “There’s something off about your shirt. It’s rather bulky, isn’t it?”

“Huh?” Futaba looked at her arms. “Oh, uh, yeah, I had to roll them up. I think this might be a size too big for me or something.”

“Then shouldn’t you get the right size?” Morgana asked.

“No.” Futaba shot an angry glare at Morgana. “This is fine. I’ll probably grow into it.”

“Are you sure you’re still growing?” Morgana tilted his head curiously. “I don’t think you’ve gotten any taller since we first met.”

“THIS. IS. FINE.” Futaba spoke through gritted teeth. “If I don’t grow into it, it will shrink in the wash. I’m NOT changing into a smaller shirt.”

“Oh.” Morgana’s body stiffened up and he turned his head away from Makoto and Futaba. “Ok then. Do what you want.”

Makoto could tell something was going on. She looked at Morgana and Futaba peculiarly. They were obviously planning something, but she had no idea what, nor did she have any clue what Futaba’s clothes had to do with it. And she didn’t have a lot of time to ponder it before she realized Futaba’s face was inches away from her own, the tiny girl’s large glasses making her staring eyes seem much larger than they actually were.

“Can I… help you with something?” Makoto asked.

“Your turn” Futaba said.

“Come again?”

“To try on an outfit!”

“Oh, of course.” Makoto was about to rise from the bench she’d been sitting on, but then stopped herself. “Wait, why?”

“It’s your birthday” Morgana said. “It’d hardly be appropriate for you to not try and find something you like for yourself on this shopping trip, right?”

“But I don’t need any new clothes right now.”

“It’s not about need!” Futaba took a step back. “It’s your birthday! You’re 20! That’s a big milestone! You should treat yourself to something!”

“I have been indulging myself, though.” Makoto started counting off things she did on her fingers. “I saw that movie with you two, and had breakfast with Ren and Sis, and then a lunch where I didn’t worry about the nutritional value of anything I ate, and-“

“Those are just temporary experiences!” Morgana said. “You should get something more permanent, Queen!”

“I suppose you have a point…” Makoto started rubbing her chin. “But I have no idea what to get. Certainly not anything from this store.”

“Ooh!” Futaba perked up. “A sidequest!”

“Hm?”

“That’s a challenge! I bet I can find you something you’ll like in this store!”

“Futaba, I don’t know that I-“

“BRB!”

Futaba ran out of the dressing area back into the store’s front. Makoto sighed and shook her head.

“This is going to be a difficult situation, isn’t it?”

“Have some faith” Morgana said. “Sure, Futaba doesn’t know the first thing about fashion, and her tastes don’t really match with yours at all, and she doesn’t have a lot of experience shopping, but… Um…”

“But what?” Makoto looked down at Morgana with a beleaguered expression on her face.

“But… Well… You know…” Morgana sighed. “I’ve got nothing. Just bear with it.”

Futaba returned a minute excitedly, holding a green jacket with a fur trim in Makoto’s size.

“Look what I found!” Futaba pushed the jacket into Makoto’s arms. “Isn’t it great!?”

“Oh…” Makoto held out the jacket, getting a better look at it. “It looks like-“

“The jacket I always wear! Yeah!” Futaba beamed at Makoto. “You should try it on! We can be jacket sisters! I mean, I’m not wearing my jacket today, but you get the idea!”

“Alright.” Makoto decided to indulge Futaba, throwing on the jacket. To her surprise, it fit perfectly, even sitting snugly on her shoulders, unlike how Futaba usually wore her own jacket. Still, it clashed pretty heavily with her airy pink top. “It doesn’t really match my style, does it?”

“I can fix that!” Futaba ran off again. “Don’t go anywhere!”

Futaba was gone before Makoto could even respond. She returned much more quickly this time, handing Makoto a black shirt, a brown belt, some camouflage pants, and a pair of black boots.

“Futaba…” Makoto looked at the items in her arms. “I don’t know if all of this is really-“

“Come on, this’ll be great!” Futaba looked up at Makoto with big sad eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

As a matter of fact, Makoto did not trust Futaba entirely. But she also didn’t have the resolve to tell her that when she was making that face. And so, albeit very reluctantly, Makoto stepped into the dressing room and put on the clothes Futaba picked out.

“It’s not bad as an outfit in itself” Makoto said, “but I don’t know if it’s the right ensemble for me.” She looked up at Futaba. “It’s really not the kind of thing I’m used to wearing.”

“Yeah, I, uh…” Futaba laughed nervously and pulled out her phone. “I think I might’ve been subconsciously inspired by the movie.” Futaba turned her phone to Makoto to reveal one of the characters from _Like A Dragon 5_ , Taiga Saejima, dressed in the exact outfit she was wearing now.

“You dressed me up like Saejima!?”

“I think it’s a good look for you” Morgana said. “It really reflects your inner fighter!”

“Mona’s right!” Futaba gave Makoto a thumbs up. “Now you look as tough as you really are!”

“That’s flattering, I suppose…” Makoto took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “But I can’t wear this in public. It’s just not me.”

“But you look so cool!” Futaba shouted. “Just think of it like cosplay of your favorite movie series!”

“But I’ve never done anything like that before!” Makoto looked at herself in the mirror. “Besides, isn’t that kind of thing supposed to be done at special events like conventions? I can’t just wear a costume out in the street!”

“But that’s what’s great about this!” Futaba gestured to Makoto’s outfit. “It’s all normal clothes! Nobody except you and maybe a couple superfans would even know it’s the same outfit as the character from the movie! It’s not like you’re dressed like an idol or a magical girl or anything!”

“I suppose that’s true…” Makoto gave her ensemble one more look. “And I DO like Saejima, but I still feel like I’d stick out walking around in these clothes.”

“Is that your only problem?” Morgana held his head up proudly. “There’s an easy fix for that, Queen!”

“Oh?”

“We just have to go somewhere offbeat stuff doesn’t stand out!”

* * *

As the sun started to set, Makoto really wasn’t sure what she was doing in Shinjuku. It’s not like there was a lot for her to do here, seeing as she wasn’t interested in host clubs. It was even stranger that Futaba wanted to come. Sure, she could be bold around the other former Phantom Thieves, and she’d gotten a lot braver about being alone in public over the past couple years, but a red light district still seemed like a big step for her, and she was clearly very nervous as they walked down the street, clinging to Makoto’s arm and trying to avoid eye contact with all strangers.

“Futaba, are you ok?” Makoto powered through the feeling of her arm going numb from blood circulation being cut off. “Would you like to go home?”

“No.” Futaba shook her head. “But maybe we could find a place to relax for a minute? Is there somewhere we can hang out and maybe I can recharge my bravery gauge?”

“Well…” Makoto didn’t have to think for long. There was really only one place she could say that she liked in all of Shinjuku. “We could go to Crossroads, I suppose.”

“Oh yeah!” Morgana popped his head out of the bag Futaba was carrying her big coat in excitedly. “You’re 20 now, Makoto! That means you’re old enough to drink! If you’re going to have your first drink anywhere, shouldn’t it be Crossroads!?”

“I hadn’t even thought of that.” Makoto stared ahead at the bar, just a block away. “But won’t you two feel left out? You can’t drink alcohol.”

“I don’t care about that” Futaba said. “I just wanna get off the street.”

“I’m the one telling you to get a drink” Morgana said. “It’s your 20th birthday! You can’t let this pass you by!”

“Alright then.” Makoto nodded. “Let’s go.”

When they reached the door of Crossroads, Futaba let go of Makoto’s arm. Makoto shook it around, trying to get the blood flowing so she could actually feel her arm again, and Futaba looked at her with a small smile on her face.

“There’s one thing I gotta do before we go in” Futaba said.

“What is it?” Makoto started massaging her arm, the numbness slowly starting to fade.

“This.” Futaba reached down for the hem of her new shirt and started pulling it up.

“Futaba, what are you doing!?” Makoto gawked at what was happening in front of her. “You can’t take your clothes off outside! Especially not in an area like thi-“

Makoto cut herself off when she saw what was under Futaba’s shirt. She could make out part of a blue robe with some gold dragons on it and some gold costume jewelry on Futaba’s wrist and around her neck. The robe was open, but Futaba was wearing some bandages around her chest. Futaba then proceeded to remove her pants, revealing a pair of baggy red pants underneath the sweatpants she bought at the store.

“Futaba…” Makoto looked at Futaba’s hidden outfit with great interest. “Why are you dressed like the Flor-“

Futaba held her finger up in front of Makoto’s face and opened the door.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAKOTO!”

Makoto flinched a little from the chorus of voices, but when Futaba pushed her inside, saw just about all of her friends there: Ryuji, Hifumi, Haru, Yusuke, Ann, Ohya, Lala, even Sae. And they were all dressed up like characters from the _Like A Dragon_ series.

“I don’t believe it!” A wide smile formed on Makoto’s face as she looked around the room. “You’re all here! I thought you were all busy today!”

“Well duh.” Ann stepped forward, wearing a construction helmet, an eyepatch, and an open snakeskin jacket with her chest wrapped in bandages. “This is supposed to be a surprise party!”

“Ann!?” Makoto stared at her friend’s costume. “You’re… dressed like Goro Majima!?”

“I was gonna do it.” Ryuji stepped forward, dressed in a brown suit and jacket with his hair slicked back. “But then we found out there was this blond-haired dude named ‘Ryuji’ in this movies so I fell into this.”

“And I refused to wear that hideous jacket” Yusuke said. He was dressed in a red suit, his hair also slicked back, resembling the character Shun Akiyama.

“Hey, it’s not like this get-up is easy for me!” Ann yelled. “Do you know how hard it was to get all of my hair under this helmet!?”

“I believe I had the greater hairstyle difficulties, Ann-Chan.” Haru was sitting at a table, dressed as the most prominent female character in the movies, Haruka. “It took a great deal of accessories and hair products to maintain this ponytail.”

“Wait a second…” Hifumi stared at Makoto peculiarly, dressed in a red suit similar to Yusuke’s with a black and gold shirt. It took Makoto a moment to realize she was supposed to be the character Nishikiyama from the prequel film _Like A Dragon 0: The Place of Oath_. “Wasn’t Futaba supposed to get Makoto to dress as the police detective named Makoto from the films?”

“I thought it was too on the nose” Futaba said. “I mean, we already got our Ryuji as their Ryuji and Haru as Haruka.”

“Well, all that matters is that you got her here without spoiling the surprise.” Sae walked up to Makoto dressed in one of her many black suits, giving her sister a hug. “Happy Birthday, Makoto.”

“Thanks, Sis.” Makoto returned the hug. “I’m glad you came, even if you didn’t dress up.”

“What are you talking about?” Sae let go of Makoto and took a step back, pointing to her shirt. “I’m that female detective from the second movie. My shirt is white.”

“Oh! I see!” Makoto tried to suppress a laugh. Sae had never had the same love for yakuza movies that Makoto and their father had, but it was nice to see her putting in an effort, even if it was a minimal one.

“Alright, birthday girl, come on over here!” Lala yelled from the bar, dressed in a white blouse and brown wig resembling Reina, the bartender from the first film. “Tonight, you get to drink on the house!”

“Yeah, get over here!” Ohya waved to Makoto, sitting at the bar dressed in a pinstripe suit, grey coat and fedora, and brown scarf. “I didn’t put on this monkey suit not to drink with you! I don’t even know who this character I’m dressed up as is!”

“I believe you’re supposed to be Bacchus, Ohya-San.” Makoto sat down at the bar next to the reporter.

“Yeah?” Ohya reached under her hat to scratch her head. “Who’s he s’posed to be? Some kind of mob boss or something?”

“Well, um…” Makoto lowered her voice. “He’s an alcoholic.”

“Oh.” Ohya’s face became the picture of displeasure. “So that’s why your shrimpy friend insisted this outfit was perfect for me.”

“Say, where’s Ren?” Morgana asked. “Is he in the bathroom or something?”

“He said he’s running late, Mona-Chan.” Haru pulled a blue onesie for cats out of her jacket pocket. “But more importantly, you’re not in your Haruto-Kun costume yet!”

“Keep that thing away from me!” Morgana extended his claws. “I already told you I’m not dressing up as the baby!”

“Put it on, man!” Ryuji started laughing. “Are you really gonna be the only one not in costume?”

A bit of a ruckus started up as Ryuji, Ann, and Haru chased Morgana around the bar, trying to catch him and put him in the outfit. Makoto ignored the mayhem and turned her attention to the bartender she realized was hovering right over her with a big grin on her face.

“So, Makoto-Chan…” Lala leaned forward on the bar. “It’s a big night for you. What do you wanna try first?”

“To be honest, I haven’t really given it much thought.” Makoto stared at the empty bar counter, lost in thought. “I’ve seen Dad and Sis drink scotch a lot, but I don’t really want to start with something that strong. And I’ve never had beer before, but there’s just something about it I don’t find very appealing. Maybe something a bit sweet would be a good way to start?”

“I could give you a mixed drink” Lala said. “How about a rum and coke? That should be a good starter instead of going straight to the hard stuff.”

"That sounds good." Makoto nodded. "Let's try that."

“Coming right up!” Lala mixed the drink quickly, a big smile on her face the whole time, pulling out her phone and turning on the camera as she placed the drink in front of Makoto. “Here you go, hon! Happy Birthday!”

“Thank you, Lala-Chan.” Makoto picked up the drink and sniffed it. Finding nothing objectionable with the scent, she let it hover in front of her mouth for a second. “Well, here goes-“

The front door opened.

“Sorry I’m late” Ren’s voice said. “It took forever to get my hair right.”

“Ren!” Makoto turned on the stool excitedly, putting down her drink. “You’re-“

Makoto’s jaw dropped. There Ren was, dressed in the white suit and partially-opened red shirt of Kazuma Kiryu, the main character of her favorite movies and —although she’d never told anybody— her first ever crush. She’d had dreams like this in the past year, but seeing it in reality had a greater impact that she ever could’ve imagined.

“You’re…” Makoto’s face started turning red. “You’re…”

“Hi, Makoto.” Ren marched straight up to Makoto and planted a long kiss on her lips. “Happy Birthday.”

“Ah… Aaaahh…”

“Makoto?”

Makoto passed out, falling off the bar stool.

**Author's Note:**

> I started out writing a more proper Yakuza crossover for this that actually had the Phantom Thieves fighting a Shadow that took Kiryu's form, but it wound up not being very substantial, so I scrapped it. Then I realized the Yakuza DLC costumes in Dancing Star Night were perfect fodder for a fic, and I just kinda ran from there.
> 
> I don't think I'll do a fic every time a character has a birthday, but I knew I wanted to do one for Makoto since she's my favorite character in the game and fellow Makoto fanatics are pretty much treating today like a holiday.
> 
> Anyway, I'm gonna get back to playing Yakuza 6 now.
> 
> And yeah I still think Atlus and SEGA messed up by not making Makoto Date the costume for Makoto. I mean, I love Saejima, but seriously?


End file.
